Lake of Fire
by ClockworkCaptain
Summary: To keep a dangerous weapon from criminals Korra must driving in a deadly illegal race and recruit a team of people who know what their doing. She's surprised however when this band of strangers are most of the people she knows. Max Max inspired.


Prompts: Fire Nation Capital, no "said", Popsicle, an uprooted flower, water.

First Sentence: The leaves from the old tree in the backyard fell in soft spirals before landing on the water's surface.

Last sentence: Maybe someday, he would get the courage to actually say something instead of just admiring from afar.

Follow-up story to: New Year's

Words: 3393

Lake of Fire

The leaves from the old tree in the backyard fell in soft spirals before landing on the water's surface. The teenage prince Iroh watched them marveling at how gracefully they fell. A little ways off his sister played a game with some friends and ignored his existence. The sun beat down on the Fire Nation Capital even though it was autumn. Iroh's attention was suddenly drawn to the Water Tribe boy walking over with two glasses and a smirk. He sat up as Shang sat down handing one of the glasses to Iroh.

Iroh looked at the glass and grimaced. "You forgot the ice."

Shang chuckled. "Patience my prince." He produced two popsicle sticks from his breast pocket. "Good things come to those who wait." Shang used his bending to freeze the liquid around the sticks and create instant popsicles. He handed Iroh one and immediately started to lick his own leaning against Iroh's shoulder.

Iroh smirked enjoying the icy treat. The two were quiet for a moment before Shang broke the silence. "I overheard your mother talking to my father and a few other delegates."

"Oh? About what?"

"They were talking about a possible bride for you." Shang's voice was solemn. "She's a Sun Warrior princess named 'Mi'tem' and she's quite pretty."

Iroh tilted his head looking at his boyfriend quizzically. "If they're just talking about her, how do you know she's pretty?"

Shang shook his head and pointed to the door where a Sun Warrior girl was walking out into the sun. "Because she's here."

Iroh could feel the jealousy ooze off his boyfriend as she walked towards them. Shang hadn't lied, she was pretty: she had black hair, dark skin, but her eyes were gold and red tattoos covered her body in intricate patterns.

"She kind of looks like Zula," Iroh mused as she drew closer and with nimble fingers and a smirk stole Shang's popsicle.

"She acts like her, too," Shang mumbled. "She took my popsicle."

Iroh kissed Shang before giving him his popsicle. "Here, you can have mine."

"Promise?" Shang gave him a look and Iroh rolled his eyes.

"Mind out of the gutter, babe."

"Aw, but then it would be homeless."

Mi'tem looked unfazed. "Your yard is boring." She sat down and glared at Shang, then looked at Iroh. "I like motorcycles, firebending, and you're going to marry me whether he, or you, like it or not." She looked at them with predatory eyes. "So how are we going to handle this?"

Iroh looked over at Shang and back and Mi'tem. Forget Zula, she's the freaking incarnation of Great Aunt Azula.

.o.

~12 years later~

Zula looked out at the spirit portal shooting straight into the sky. "Kind of like a nightlight," she commented before coming back to the table and shuffling the cards. She looked around at the four other faces in the circle. To her left sat her boyfriend, Mako, and next to him was the Earth Prince who just couldn't get a hint, to her right were Opal and Bolin. She smiled. "So who's ready to play some poker?"

Wu looked surprised. "We aren't playing Go Fish?"

Mako shook his head. "No Wu…we are not."

"Aww." Wu pouted and took his cards.

An hour later, with most of the table owing their shirts to Zula, a knock came at that door. Mako got up and soon two familiar faces entered the room. Avatar Korra took a deep breath and sat down next to Zula while Asami just leaned against the nearest wall. The Avatar looked tired and a bit beat up as she looked at the Fire Princess.

"What do you know about the Lake of Fire race?"

Zula sat back. "Not much other than it's the biggest, and bloodiest, illegal Sato race in the world."

Korra gave her a look like someone had just popped her balloon. "Oh….I was hoping for more then just that."

The Fire Princess smiled. "I do know someone who knows everything about it, however." Zula stood up. "Let me go make some calls." She paused. "Why do you want to know?"

Asami sighed. "It's complicated."

.o.

Five calls later, a golden eyed, red tattooed, and dark skinned woman sat across from Korra. She looked over at the Avatar. "So Zula tells me you need to know about the Lake of Fire race? Why?"

Korra pulled from her backpack an uprooted flower, its roots still had some dirt clinging to it. "Do you know what this is?"

"No, should I?"

"It's a spirit flower, one of these can be used to generate a spirit cannon like the one that practically leveled the city." Korra frowned. "One hundred of these flowers were stolen from the Spirit World and are the prize for the Lake of Fire race. I need to win that race or know the person who does."

Mi'tem snorted. "You? You barely know anything about the race and can hardly drive." She gestured over at Asami. "Now your girlfriend might have a chance to finish the race if she had the proper support."

"Well then we'll have Asami drive."

Mi'tem was laughing now. "She'll finish, not win. No, to win you'll need someone who's done the race before, has the right team and bonus if you get someone who's actually won."

Zula leaned forward. "That's why I called you and your old team." She made a pleading face. "We need you Mi'tem, you and your team. You've won the race twice now."

Asami nodded. "Look, Korra and I will only be in the race to support you but we need someone who can win."

Mi'tem sighed. "Fine, I'll do it." She looked over as Zula. "Who exactly have you called?"

Zula smirked. "Everyone."

"Great…I'll have to deal with him then." She was thoughtful for a moment. "We're going to need three cars built up to this year's specs." She looked at Asami. "Miss Sato, how good are you with a set of blueprints and a welder?"

"One of the best, it's a gift."

"Good, know anyone else just as gifted?"

.o.

"The Lake of Fire has only female drivers because they believe it's less 'savage' that way," Mi'tem explained as they walked off a train into a dusty town. "It's not, but they really don't care. Men are allowed on your team and can ride in your car but only as mechanics. You have to build your car from the ground up with the parts allotted to you and the stuff you smuggle in." She glanced over at Korra, who looked shocked. "Don't make that face. It's all part of the game."

They walked to a set of hangers where other people, mostly outlaws, sat around drinking and waiting for something. Varrick, who had been coerced to come, grimaced. "Lovely."

"Now, the race is broken up into three parts," Mi'tem continued. "One, build your car; two; race your car."

"And the third part?" Mako asked.

"Three, survive." She took a breath. "Now the race started a day ago so we have to make up time."

"A day ago?!" Korra looked like she was going to break something. "A day ago? We're doomed! The whole world is doomed!"

"Keep your cool there, Avatar, I've got it all under control. The only cars that are already on the track are pieces of junk that can't finish this multi-day race. My team's been here since yesterday working on our three cars, now that Verrick and Sato are here to help the team things should move along quite rapidly."

"Who is your team?" Bolin asked.

"Well, to give a brief description, one's a kid who knows how to cheat, two lesbians who really know their bending, a man who doesn't know when he can't have something but can play politics and is moderately useful, and my husband."

.o.

They walked into a large hangar where three cars stood in various stages of completion. Tahno smirked seeing the party walk in.

"A kid who knows how to cheat." Korra smirked. "So accurate it hurts." She looked around the room and her jaw dropped seeing the others in the hangar. Kya stood on a suspended rail talking to a good-looking Water Tribesman lowering an engine into one of the cars while Lin guided it into position.

Mi'tem didn't pay any of them attention, instead going over to a pair of legs sticking out from another car. In one swift move she pulled the man out from under the car, straddled him and kissed him. Korra couldn't help but notice the Water Tribesman looking with disgust.

Iroh raised an eyebrow looking up at Mi'tem. "What was that for?"

"Just establishing precedence."

"Well, now that you've done that can I get back to work?"

Mi'tem rolled her eyes. "Yes, go back to your work since you seem more interested in screwing parts into place than me."

Iroh pulled himself back under the car. "Well the car is more cooperative."

His voice was muffled but Korra could still make out the General's words. Korra bit her lip and looked away. "Oh they are going to be fun to work with," she mumbled under her breath.

"Okay, people." Mi'tem clapped her hands. "Time to get to work."

They all worked into the night and most of the next day but through blood, sweat, tears, coffee, and lots and lots of cursing they finished the three cars.

Iroh wiped his brow. "Well, I think that's a record, at least for this level of quality."

The Water Tribesman (Shang, as Korra had been informed) smiled and looked over at Iroh and Mi'tem. "Yes, I do believe these have to be our greatest creations yet. A kiss for a job well done?"

Mi'tem walked past him and almost pushed him into the back of one of the cars. "Not on your life."

.o.

Mi'tem slept like a rock, she doubted that any of the newbies would even after she had told them sleep was their most valuable resource. A pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist. She turned to see Iroh looking at her kindly. It was only in these very private moments that he looked at her like that, like there was really some love between them.

She sighed and traced one of his scars with a finger. "I can see it in his eyes, he still wants you, still hurting because you put your country before him. Shang only agreed to do this because you'd be here."

"He's doing this because it's the right thing." Iroh kissed her. "He's got a new boyfriend to go home to but some habits die hard."

"Especially when those habits make you bitter." She took another breath. "I want you to sabotage the other cars. Asami will figure out how to fix them but the further behind they are the more likely they are to survive this."

"You don't think they can do it, do you?"

"They're too green, too nice. I don't want to risk it." She kissed his collarbone. "Please, for me, while I get a little bit more sleep."

She went back to sleep as Iroh left the room. When she woke back up he was by her side sleeping soundly with a smear of grease on his cheek that hadn't been there before.

.o.

Iroh felt a pang of guilt looking at the two other cars being left in the dust. He knew Korra and Asami were tough and had a good chance to handle this race but they were in over their heads at the same time. A few hours later their radio crackled to life and Lin's voice came over loud and clear.

 _~That was a cruel move, Mi'tem~_

"They aren't made for this kind of bloodshed, Lin. You know that and I know that."

 _~Still, I wouldn't piss off the Avatar like that. The cars are fixed and on the road, did you really have to steal steering wheels?! Oh well, the rest of us have taken to the sky and we'll keep you updated with the locations of the other racers.~_

Iroh grabbed the radio. "Do you have any information for us now?"

 _~Yeah, you're coming up on them, stragglers. They might not give you trouble but don't count on it.~_

"Roger that." Iroh put the com down and looked at Mi'tem. "We're about to catch up to the pack."

She smiled. "My favorite part."

.o.

Asami wanted to punch the dash but didn't since Shang was sitting right next to her. He was working on some sort of device but she didn't want him to see her mad. Shang looked over at her finishing the last modifications on his gadget.

"You know, you can be angry at Mi'tem. She can ruin your life if she gets the chance."

Asami raised an eyebrow. "Really? I thought you liked her since you're always flirting with her."

Shang snorted. "I would never flirt with her, she took my prince from me."

"Oh, I didn't know you and Iroh were a thing."

"Yeah, well, we were." He sighed. "Keep driving, you see that cloud of dust?"

"Yeah."

"That's the other drivers, it's about to get ugly."

"What do you mean by ugly?"

"Have you ever imagined Amon, Kuvira, the Red Lotus, all in a demolition derby of a race?"

"No."

"Too bad because that's what you're facing."

.o.

Lin stayed on the radio watching the chaos unfolding beneath her and giving information when useful. Mi'tem's car moved almost effortlessly through the pack while fire and chaos erupted around them. Lin smirked, this was illegal but she was proud of how well her nephew was doing. Mako walked up to her and looked over and grimaced.

"How can you sit back and watch this unfold? People are going to get hurt, going to die in this race. Why hasn't this thing been stopped?"

"It was out of my jurisdiction and the Earth Queen didn't care enough to stop it. What happened to it while Kuvira was running the country is unknown but clearly it didn't go away."

"How did you get mixed up in this?"

"My nephew got dragged into it by Mi'tem, who had her own reasons for entering the race."

"Oh." Mako looked back down. "Was it a good reason?"

"Yes." Lin looked back out of the window. "Shit, here comes the people on bikes, I guess the real race has begun."

.o.

Korra gripped the wheel trying not to whack Varrick up the side of his head. She was stuck with him because to really compete in the race she needed to have a mechanic. He was talking her ear off when she spotted two people riding on the back of a motorcycle. They looked like the bandits she had fought before and as they grew closer she realized she might have preferred those.

 _~I'm sure you've noticed by now but you've got company.~_ Lin's voice crackled over the radio.

"Yeah, no kidding. What do I do with them?"

 _~Let Varrick take the wheel and use your bending to get rid of them.~_

"But that's against the rules!"

 _~Screw the rules! This is part three! Survive!~_

Korra frowned. She didn't like this race one bit. She didn't want to cause any real harm to people as she switched seats with Varrick and moved to the roof to get a better look at the closing enemies. There were too many to try and fight. She cursed under her breath as one launched an arrow that scratched her arm. Korra earthbent a wall between them and looked to the other side of the car and smiled. There, sitting peacefully, was a lake. Korra leaned down in to the car.

"Drive into the lake!" she ordered.

Varick looked at her like she was mad. "What!?"

"Just do it! I've got a plan!"

Varrick didn't protest, just nodded and wrenched the wheel to the left. Korra moved from the roof of the car to the hood and waterbent an ice path that was just strong enough to hold the car. She would then alternate from waterbending an ice path in front of her and melting what she had made behind her, thus keeping the thugs as far away from them as possible.

.o.

"Oh monkey feathers!" Mi'tem yelled. She was in the lead but one of her engines had taken damage and now she was slowing down. She looked over at Iroh. "Hey, sweetie, could you?"

"Already on it." Iroh slung the tool belt over his shoulder and was climbing through the sunroof and onto the hood of the car. Grumbling as he worked, Iroh dodged three arrows before sending a bolt of lightning back at them. "I. Am. Trying. To. Work. You. Annoying. Mother-!"

Mi'tem hit the horn. "Mind on your work! I'll take care of them!"

Iroh went back to working on the downed engine while she set the cruise control. Making sure she was dealing with a straight shot she grabbed a few of the miniature 'goo' bombs Varrick had made and using a sling shot launched them at the bikers shooting at Iroh. She hit the first and second rides and an explosion of green goo sprang from the device, trapping the whole pack in its sticky embrace.

"Oh! I have got to get more of these!"

.o.

Bloody, bruised, and either sporting a stab wound or an arrow to the arm, Mi'tem's hotrod slid across the finish line followed almost immediately by Asami's car, that now had two tires made of ice thanks to Shang. They looked pretty good and only sported a few scratches. By some miracle Korra's car crossed the finish line an hour later in almost mint condition with Varick behind the wheel and Korra sitting on the hood looking pleased with herself.

She jumped off the hood immediately hugging Asami giving her a big kiss. Mi'tem handed her a large cup filled with flowers. "I have a feeling you know what needs to happen with these."

Korra took them and nodded before looking at her car. "Um, can I keep my car? It looks like a piece of junk but after this past week I've grown quite fond of it."

Mi'tem smirked. "Yeah, of course. Just remember it's not even close to street legal."

Korra smirked. "That's fine, I've got a girlfriend with her own private race track."

Mi'tem smirked. "Well lucky you, all my husband has is a country."

.o.

Shang sat next to Kya, lazily drinking a glass of lemonade. They had all gone back to the Fire Nation palace to properly celebrate their victory. He smirked watching his younger brother Tahno trying to convince Mako that he and Zula were 'totally a thing' back in the day. Korra was talking to Asami, giggling and stealing the odd kiss. Varrick was regaling everyone with his own rendition of the events, which may or may not be true. He was also boasting about how he had a vision for his next mover series. Lin and Iroh were chatting a little ways off, a two-year-old girl sitting on his shoulder listening in. She looked just like her daddy and Shang couldn't help but smile. A five-year-old boy ran out into the yard and almost dove into the pond but was caught by his mother in the nick of time. Mi'tem bounced the little troublemaker on her hip, making the boy laugh and kissing him on the cheek.

Mi'tem was a contradiction to Shang. She was so demanding, so sure that her goals were right and worth all she sacrificed, so powerful like a blazing inferno. She married Iroh for the good of her people. She entered the race the first time to win back some dragon eggs stolen from her people. She had rough edges that seemed impossible to be smoothed; yet here she was a soft and loving mother making her son laugh. Even long ago when she first met him and Iroh she was understanding of the situation and didn't try to change Iroh, just establish what life was going to be like. Shang hated to admit this but he admired her and was jealous of Iroh because he had her and knew the sides she rarely showed. Maybe someday, he would get the courage to actually say something instead of just admiring from afar.

A/N: Thanks for reading this! Leave a comment if you feel so inclined. I'll see you all later. ~C.C.


End file.
